BC Highway Webcams Help

Using the list view to find a webcam
Q. How does the webcam list group webcams in the mobile application?

A. Webcams are grouped in the list view in the following way:
- By Region, starting with Northern Region, then Southern Interior, Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island. Webcams at Canada/US Borders are also categorized under Regions.
- Within each region, webcams are grouped by Highway Number.
- Within each Highway Route, webcams are presented North to South or West to East.
- Border are listed at border crossings West to East.
Q. How do I select a webcam using the lists?

A. To select from the list, do the following:
1. Go to the BC Highway Webcams Mobile homepage;
2. Select a B.C. region from the list. You can also select from Border webcams or your MyCams listing;
3. Select the main highway route you are interested in. This will provide you with a listing of thumbnails images of webcams along that route;
4. Scroll down the list of thumbnails until you find the camera you want. Click on the thumbnail to go to the full-size image. Scroll down the page to view accompanying thumbnail map and route weather information.
Q. How do I go back to a previous screen or list?

A. Use the "back" button in your browser (or on your device) to return to a previous screen.
Q. How do I use the thumbnail maps associated with each webcam?

A. The thumbnail maps under the image display the location of the current webcam you are viewing and, where available, other webcams on the same route or in the same general vicinity. If the map appears small on your device you can zoom up on the map by using the zoom feature of your mobile device. Your current webcam will be represented with a blue icon. Other webcams will be shown as grey. You can switch to another webcam by clicking on one of the grey icons.
Q. How do I get a route weather forecast for a webcam?

A. When you have selected a full-size image, scroll down the page and select the "Weather Forecast" button. The route weather forecast provides a listing of cities and their associated current and forecast weather along that particular route.
Q. Who provides the route weather forecasts?

Route weather forecasts are provided by Environment Canada and the WeatherOffice.
Q. Some webcams do not have a weather forecast. Why not?

Currently, route weather forecasts are provided for select B.C. routes only. A more complete listing for all webcams and routes is being developed.
Q. What are high-pass forecasts, and why do they only appear at certain times of the year?

A. High-pass forecasts show conditions in select mountain passes around the province. Environment Canada combines these with the route forecasts during the winter, but discontinues them in summer when weather conditions improve.

Using Map View to find a webcam
Q. I'd prefer to pick my webcams from a map. Is there a way to do that?

A. Yes. On the BC Highway Webcams Mobile homepage, scroll down to and select "Map View of Webcams".
Q. When I go to "Map View of Webcams" I see two types of icons: a blue camera and a magnifying glass with a number. What do these mean?
- Blue Icons: represent webcam locations. Click on the icon to see a bubble with a thumbnail image. Click on the thumbnail image to go to a full-width image of the webcam, with map, description and weather information for that route.
- Magnifying Glass (with numbers): represents a cluster of webcam locations. Click on the magnifying glass to zoom into the map and reveal individual blue icons (see "Blue Icons" above).

Using MyCams to create a personal listing of webcams
Q. What are MyCams?

A. "MyCams" is a listing of your favourite webcams you save as a listing in the mobile application. It gives you quick access to the webcams along your regular routes.
Q. How do I create a MyCams list?

A. First, visit a webcam you'd like to add to the list. When you are on the page that shows the webcam, thumbnail map and weather report, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the button "Add to MyCams". The webcam will automatically add itself to "MyCams".
Q. How do I delete a webcam from my MyCams list?

A. Find the webcam you wish to delete from your MyCams list and click on it. When the page opens, scroll down to the "Remove from MyCams" button and click it. The webcam will be removed from your MyCams list, but will still appear in the regular listing of webcams.
Q. How does MyCams remember my webcams?

A. MyCams uses cookies to remember the webcams you have chosen. Deleting your cookies will also delete your list in MyCams.
Q. Help! I had a selection of webcams picked out on the MyCams tab, but now they are gone. What happened?

A. The selections you make rely on cookies in your browser. If you disabled cookies or deleted your browser cookies, the images will not display. You may need to redefine your Mycams list.
Q. I can see my selection of webcams (in MyCams) in one of my mobile devices, but not another? Why not?

A. The selections you made in one browser will not appear in another browser because each browser requires its own set of cookies to work. You will need to make your selections in both browsers.

Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Does this mobile application display all images that appear on DriveBC and the B.C. Highway Webcams sites?

A. Yes.
Q. How often do the highway webcam images update?

A. Most of the rural images (Northern, Southern Interior and some Vancouver Island) are scheduled to provide a new image approximately every 15 minutes to half an hour. Some Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island images update every two minutes to monitor traffic.
Q. What does the red bar with the timestamp under the image mean?

A. This is to notify you that the image is "stale"; that is, the image is over 20 minutes old.
Q. What does a faded image with "Transmission Delayed" mean?

A. If an image remains stale for over 40 minutes, it is automatically replaced with a faded version of the last received image, and a "Transmission Delayed" message appears over top. Once the image updates, the "Transmission Delayed" message is replaced by the new highway webcam image and the red bar will return to black.
Q. Why do some image areas display a grey box instead of an image?

A. If the webcam image remains stale for an extended period of time, it will be "turned off" on the website, and technicians will be alerted to fix the webcam. In this case, the web page remains, but the image is replaced with a grey box and a short message.
Q. I need to travel in an area that has a highway webcam, but the "Transmission Delayed" message is displaying. I need to know the road conditions in that area -- what should I do?

A. Go to DriveBC Mobile for current road condition information for the area.
Q. What causes a webcam to stop sending images?

A. Many of the webcams depend on wireless (cell) or satellite communication and a regular power feed for operation. Unfortunately, these can be affected by extreme weather conditions.

Maintaining power and communication in remote, exposed areas can be especially challenging during extremely bad weather. For this reason remote webcams can go down for a few hours and come back working normally when the communication is restored.

Other factors that can affect the transmission and display of webcam images are local power failures and network communications issues.
Q. Does the ministry know when a webcam has stopped sending images? Should I try to contact someone to tell them?

A. There is no need for you to contact the ministry or DriveBC when a webcam has an outage. Webcam images are monitored electronically and will trigger alerts when they start going stale. Alerts go to our web technician and ministry electrical technicians to warn them of a problem. If the problem is not solvable at that level, it is escalated to our electrical maintenance contractors in the field, who will visit the webcams to perform necessary repairs.
Q. I am a web developer who would like to display BC HighwayCam images on my website or application. Do I need permission from the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure?

A. Yes, a license agreement with the Province of British Columbia is required to reuse or rebroadcast B.C. HighwayCam images, maps and/or DriveBC data. BC HighwayCam images and DriveBC data are copyright by the Province of B.C.
Q. Where can I find more information about BC Highway Webcams?

A. Visit our website here.